Chapter 1-3 Sarah Plain and Tall 

He was homely and plain he had a terrible holler and a horrid smell. But these were not the worst of him. Mama died the next morning. That was the worst thing about Caleb. Isn't he beautiful Anna? Her last words to me. I had gone to bed thinking how wretched he looked. And I forgot to say good night. I wiped my hands on my apron and went to the window. Outside the prairie reached out and touched the places where the sky came down. Though winter was nearly over there were patches of snow and ice everywhere. I looked at the long dirt road that crawled across the plain  remembering the morning that Mama had died cruel and sunny. They had come for her in a wagon and taken her away to be buried. And then the cousins and aunts and uncles had come and tried to fill up the house. But they couldn't. Slowly one by one they left. And then the days seemed long and dark like winter days even  though it wasn't winter. And Papa didn't sing.